1. Basic Elements of Organizing
Chapter Eleven
Basic Elements of Organizing

2. The Elements Organizing
Deciding how to best group organizational activities and resources.
Job Design
Departmentalization
Chain of Command
Span of Management
Authority
Centralization vs. Decentralization
Tall vs. Flat Organizations
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3. Job Specialization (Division of Labor)
Job Design--
Job Specialization (Division of Labor)
The degree to which the overall task of the organization is broken down and divided into smaller component parts.
Benefits of Specialization
Workers can become proficient at a task.
Transfer time between tasks is decreased.
Specialized equipment can be more easily developed.
Employee replacement becomes easier.
Limitations of Specialization
boredom and dissatisfaction with mundane tasks.
Anticipated benefits do not always occur.
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4. Adam Smith’s Example of Job Specialization
Making a pin (nail) requires 18 tasks
1 worker doing all 18 tasks might make
20 pins (nails) a day.
20 workers = (20 x 20) = 400 pins
______________________________
With specialization:
20 workers make 100,000 pins a day.
1 worker = 5,000 pins
20 pins vs. 5,000 pins per worker
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5. Alternatives to Specialization
Job Rotation
Systematically moving employees from one job to another in an attempt to reduce employee boredom.
Job Enlargement
An increase in the total number of tasks workers perform.
Job Enrichment
Increasing both the number of tasks the worker does and the control the worker has over the job.
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6. Alternatives to Specialization
Job Characteristics Approach: suggests jobs should be diagnosed and improved along 5 core dimensions.
Core Dimensions
Skill variety—the number of tasks a person does in a job.
Task identity—the extent to which the worker does a complete or identifiable portion of the total job.
Task significance—the perceived importance of the task.
Autonomy—the degree of control the worker has over how the work is performed.
Feedback— the extent to which the worker knows how well the job is being performed.
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7. The Job Characteristics Approach
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8. Alternatives to Specialization
Work Teams
An alternative to job specialization that allows the entire group to design the work system it will use to perform an interrelated set of tasks.
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9. Grouping Jobs: Departmentalization
The process of grouping jobs according to some logical arrangement.
Rationale for Departmentalization
Organizational growth exceeds the owner-manager’s capacity to personally supervise all of the organization.
Additional managers are employed and assigned specific employees to supervise.
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10. Grouping Jobs: Departmentalization (cont’d)
Functional Departmentalization
Grouping jobs involving the same or similar activities.
Product Departmentalization
Grouping activities around products or product groups.
Customer Departmentalization
Grouping activities to respond to and interact with specific customers and customer groups.
Location Departmentalization
The grouping of jobs on the basis of defined geographic sites or areas.
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11. Bases for Departmentalization
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12. Establishing Reporting Relationships
Chain of Command
A clear and distinct line of authority among the positions in an organization.
Unity of Command
Each person within an organization must have a clear reporting relationship to one and only one boss.
Scalar Principle
A clear and unbroken line of authority must extend from the bottom to the top of the organization.
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13. Tall Versus Flat Organizations
Span of Management (Span of Control) - The number of people who report to a particular manager.
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14. Factors Influencing the Span of Management
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15. Distributing Authority
Power that has been legitimized by the organization.
Delegation
The process by which managers assign a portion of their total workload to others.
Reasons for Delegation
To enable the manager to get more work done by utilizing the skills and talents of subordinates.
To foster development of subordinates by having them participate in decision making and problem.
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16. Decentralization and Centralization
Systematically delegating power and authority throughout the organization to middle- and lower-level managers.
Centralization
Systematically retaining power and authority in the hands of higher-level managers.
Factors Determining Choice of Centralization
External environment’s complexity and uncertainty
History of the organization
Nature (cost and risk) of the decisions to be made.
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17. Differentiating Between Positions
Line Positions
Positions in the direct chain of command responsible for the achievement of an organization’s goals.
Have formal (legitimate) authority.
Staff Positions
Positions intended to provide expertise, advice, and support to line positions.
Have advisory authority; can give compulsory advice.
Have functional authority to enforce compliance with organizational policies and procedures.
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